Invasive green crab population reaches record high in Shediac Bay

The population of green crabs in Shediac Bay has exploded this year, says Jim Weldon, of the Shediac Bay Watershed Association. Weldon, the green crab project manager, has been monitoring numbers of the aggressive invasive species since 2013. “This is the highest numbers we’ve ever seen,” he said. Weldon attributes the harsh winter of 2014 with keeping numbers at bay last year. “The ice was thick, the crabs that were hibernating in the mud were crushed, the numbers were way down.” The aggressive invasive crustacean can wreak havoc on eelgrass beds that provide shelter to other aquatic life. “They are going to go after the seed populations of mussels, oysters, quahogs and anything that is small enough that they can open.” Read the story here 12:59

NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?

While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here

Northeast Groundfish Gear Conservation Engineering & Demonstration Network FINAL CALL FOR PROPOSALS –GEARNET is currently scheduling port and sector meetings for December to develop your ideas for Read More »